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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29733075">idfk</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/shakespearecouldprobably/pseuds/shakespearecouldprobably'>shakespearecouldprobably</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining Shirabu Kenjirou, Shirabu Kenjirou is a Little Shit, Tendou is a good friend</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:02:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,273</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29733075</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/shakespearecouldprobably/pseuds/shakespearecouldprobably</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“MAYBE if you weren’t such a fucking bitch!” Shirabu yelled, sending a loud silence over the gym. I stared back at him, trying to think of something to say, because of all the insults we’d slung at each other for some reason this one hurt more than the rest.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Shirabu Kenjirou/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>ahaha so as much as i hate shirabu's haircut he's a good character and i like him much so have this fic i shat out a while ago onto a google doc then forgot about and am continuing</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a warm afternoon.<br/>Too warm. It was the final warm day of the year, until the weather succumbed into numbing coldness. The heat was getting to everyone, making people tired and sluggish, or salty and snappish. <br/>Two such people were yelling at each other on the sidelines, having interrupted the volleyball practice.<br/>“MAYBE if you weren’t such a fucking bitch!” Shirabu yelled, sending a loud silence over the gym. I stared back at him, trying to think of something to say, because of all the insults we’d slung at each other for some reason this one hurt more than the rest. <br/>“Takes one to know one,” I said weakly, way too late. My voice cracked slightly at the end, and I stepped back, scooping up the water bottles and leaving, stopping just outside the gym to wonder why the hell I felt so stung.<br/>“Too far, Bubu,” I heard Semi say. <br/>“Did you see the look on her face?” Goshiki said. He sounded worried. <br/>“I know… it’s strange, she usually has a comeback.” <br/>I refilled the water bottles and walked silently back into the gym, putting them down and creeping across into the storage closet when everyone was listening to Coach Washijo. I wedged myself between a pile of boxes and some shelves and did my best to sort out my thoughts. <br/>Shirabu and I always fought. From the first day last year when I’d come on as manager, we’d been at each other's throats. And not in a playful way- no, it was a constant flow of jabs and jibes from one to another, that had somehow ceased with his single swear. <br/>I was unaware of Tendou standing over me until he tapped the top of my head.<br/>“Hi hi,” he said, sitting in front of me. <br/>“Hi.”<br/>“You aren’t crying.” He didn’t look fussed- it was comforting, because most other people would flutter around, asking if I was okay and if I wanted them to beat up Shirabu. Tendou’s non-perturbed half-smile was more than welcome and I smiled in return.<br/>“No.” <br/>“We thought you were. You looked like you were going to.” <br/>“Did I?” I shifted my shoulders. “That’s pathetic.”<br/>“He didn’t mean to say it. It probably slipped out,” Tendou said. “He looked guilty.”<br/>“He did mean it.” The boxes were pressing on my left shoulder in an uncomfortable way. “I am.”<br/>“You are what?”<br/>“A fucking bitch.”<br/>“No you’re not,” Tendou replied simply. He didn’t sound angry or sympathetic, and his voice was a lot softer than it normally was, and for some stupid reason I believed him. “You’re not. You’re many things- angry, short, smart to the point of being a know-it-all-” I huffed out a giggle. “But you’re not a fucking bitch.”<br/>“Thanks.” I stood up, afraid I was going to tear up. It was almost funny- I came closer to tears when Tendou comforted me rather than when Shirabu screamed at me. “Does anyone need anything? The lot of you can’t last two seconds without your manager.”<br/>“I think we’re fine,” Tendou replied, returning to his usual tone. He slung an arm around my shoulders as we walked out. Everyone seemed… shiny. There was no other way to explain it. Like I was seeing everyone but myself through a thin filter. I felt sort of separate, and the feeling made my stomach flip and I worried I was going to be sick all over my shoes.<br/>“Are you alright?” Ushijima said. I started, before nodding. Ushijima wasn’t scary, just intimidating. He’d been just as huge as he was now when I first came on last year, but he wasn’t rude or mean. He just didn’t say much of anything.<br/>“I’m okay. I’m gonna go now, if that’s okay.”<br/>“Of course.”<br/>I walked past everyone, out the gym doors, breezing past Shirabu. For a split second, we made eye contact, before glancing away. Part of me wondered if he was sorry. Part of me knew he wasn’t.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The loudest silence ever descended upon them. I wondered if I’d have a nice funeral. Nice flowers, maybe. Closed casket, obviously.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hohoohohohohoho boy you fucked up</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>(Shirabu POV)<br/>“What the hell, Shirabu?”<br/>I jerked back to reality, the image of her hurt face burned into my mind. I knew the second I’d called her that, it had been a mistake. A big, ugly mistake that was going to make Eita serve a ball at my head. <br/>“I-”<br/>“Why would you call her that?” It wasn’t Eita yelling, it was Taichi. Classic. He liked our manager over his own roommate. To be fair, they were pretty good friends. Better friends than I was with Taichi, or her. <br/>“Uh-”<br/>“Coach,” Leon said warningly. “Taichi, lower your voice.”<br/>“No! He called her a- a-”<br/>“What’s all this noise?” Washijo snapped in his creaky old man voice.<br/>“Shirabu here,” Eita started icily, “Insulted our manager.”<br/>“You what?”<br/>My heart dropped into my shoes. I’d forgotten Washijo prized her over the rest of us. She was a bright spot on his vaguely cloudy horizon that was made up of every stupid mistake we made. <br/>“What did you say?” Washijo asked, frighteningly calm.<br/>“He called her a fucking bitch,” Tendou said.<br/>The loudest silence ever descended upon them. I wondered if I’d have a nice funeral. Nice flowers, maybe. Closed casket, obviously. <br/>“You’re suspended from club activities until the end of the week.”<br/>This was probably the cruelest thing he could’ve done. It was nearing the tournament time, and I needed every bit of practice I could get. Even though it was only four days of suspension, that was four days of precious practice lost. Four days of Taichi coming back late, sweaty, but better. Four days of tortuous anticipation, of wondering if they’d put Eita back on as setter.<br/>Washijo had continued speaking to the rest of the group, and I heard someone trekking quietly across the gym. I saw her out of the corner of my eye, going into the storage closet. I felt awful. Like I’d hit her. The dirty looks Taichi was giving me were bad enough, and I knew he’d probably ignore me as much as possible, or try and make me apologise.<br/>Like I’d do that. As if.<br/>I one hundred percent would, just not now. <br/>Tendou vanished from practice as it crawled closer to ending, and as I was packing up, I saw her walk out of the storage closet, past everyone, past me. For a split second, her eyes met mine and the image of her eyes widening as I yelled at her, of her stepping back slightly, of her hair falling ever so slightly over her face as she flinched flashed in front of my eyes. I had to physically look away to stop my eyes from tearing up.<br/>She’d never forgive me, but, god, I wanted her to.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I fell asleep uneasily that night, his words ringing in my head and polluting my dreams. I woke up in a turmoil, and spent the whole day fretting so that when practice rolled around, accompanied by a cold and rainy afternoon, I had worked myself into a state.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i got called a slut once and thought about it for a month aftwerwards</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>(Reader POV)<br/>I knew it was pathetic, but I finally cried in the shower, although it was partly because I stubbed my toe. At least, I told myself that was so, while sitting on my bed and drying my hair. A few of the boys had texted to ask if I was okay. I was okay, now, wearing warm pajamas and waiting for my roommate to come back. She was named Minami, and played hockey, so I’d learned to ice skate pretty well while keeping her company.<br/>Minami herself shoved open the door, bumbling in, humming a song, and immediately stopping when she saw me.<br/>“You’ve been crying.”<br/>“Hello to you too.”<br/>“What’s happened?” she asked, dumping her gear on the floor beside her bed and looking at me.<br/>“Nothing.”<br/>She gave me a very disbelieving look. I fidgeted with my fingers.<br/>“Shirabu called me a fucking bitch.”<br/>Minami gave me a very long look, before rubbing her eyes. “Okay. Well, first of all, you two are always fighting. Why is this any different? Secondly-”<br/>“I don’t know why this one’s different!” I interrupted loudly. Minami sighed softly.<br/>“Have you tried talking to him?” <br/>“I don’t want to. I don’t want to see his stupid face ever again.”<br/>“...You realise you’re his manager, right?”<br/>“I know!” I snapped. “Part of me wants to make up some dumb excuse, but I know it’ll seem cowardly.”<br/>“It most certainly will,” Minami replied. I shot her a sideways glance.<br/>“You know, you’re not being very helpful.”<br/>“You didn’t ask me to be.” <br/>“Fair.” I picked up my phone. “I didn’t ask this lot to be helpful either, but Yamagata has sent me four dog videos in the space of seven minutes, so I guess everyone’s different.”<br/>“Uh huh.” Minami didn’t seem interested. I knew very well that she’d pick up and do her bit if anything got worse, but when it came to name calling and shower tears, she didn’t feel as though she could do much.<br/>I fell asleep uneasily that night, his words ringing in my head and polluting my dreams. I woke up in a turmoil, and spent the whole day fretting so that when practice rolled around, accompanied by a cold and rainy afternoon, I had worked myself into a state. So much so that I stood in the rain outside the gym for a few minutes before walking in, dripping and shivering.<br/>“Oh, hey,” Semi called, before doing a double take. “You’re soaked!”<br/>“It’s raining,” I replied. “Is, um, is he here?”<br/>“No. He got suspended from club activities until the end of the week. Washijo was mad,” Semi replied. “You know you’re his favourite. When he heard what Shirabu had said, he went off.”<br/>I brushed strands of wet hair out of my eyes. “Did he?”<br/>“Yeah.” Semi tossed me a towel. “Dry off.”<br/>Practice was a little off today. Not because Semi was a bad setter, but because no one had quite adjusted back to his sets yet. I left early, tired, and bumped into Shirabu just outside the dorms.<br/>“Oh.”<br/>It wasn’t even a word, just a soft exhalation from my mouth that drew his eyes to mine. He stared at me, face completely blank, before a thin line appeared between his eyebrows.<br/>“Hey.” His voice was deeper than I remembered- he’d never really spoken to me at a normal pitch. <br/>“Hi.” I fiddled with the hem of my shirt, looking away from his eyes. All I could hear was fucking bitch and it was making it difficult to meet his gaze. <br/>“So, uh,” he said, clearing his throat. I wondered if Taichi had put him up to this. “I, um-”<br/>“Don’t.” I looked back into his eyes, my head ringing with his words. “Not if it isn’t sincere.”<br/>“What?” <br/>“Not if it isn’t sincere, Bubu,” I said, relishing the way his eyebrow quirked up at the nickname. <br/>He nodded slowly. “Okay, then. Um, see you tomorrow.”<br/>“Tomorrow?” I called as he walked away. “What’s tomorrow?”<br/>I was met with silence, and I kicked a nearby tuft of grass.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I slumped on my bed. “How pissed is she?”<br/>“Huh?”<br/>“I mean. Is she… you know, really mad?” I asked.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>he's in lurve rip son she hates ya </p><p> </p><p>for now</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>(Shirabu POV)<br/>
“Wasn’t sincere. Hell, she’s infuriating.”<br/>
“I don’t care, Shirabu.”<br/>
I shot Taichi a look. “Do you want me to apologize or not?”<br/>
“Yes.”<br/>
“Then help me!”<br/>
“No. She said it wanted it to be sincere, so do it yourself.” Taichi leisurely turned a page in the Shonen Jump magazine he was reading.<br/>
I slumped on my bed. “How pissed is she?”<br/>
“Huh?”<br/>
“I mean. Is she… you know, really mad?” I asked.<br/>
“She asked me if you hated her. Oh, and if she really was a bitch.”<br/>
I exhaled slowly. “Shit.”<br/>
“That’s enough swearing out of you.”<br/>
I decided, right then and there, to apologise properly to her. I knew where she sat at break with her friends, so the next day I scooted around the edge of the courtyard and out into the lawns until I spotted her, sitting on the grass. I walked closer until I was almost right behind her. Her friends fell silent, all of them eyeing me cautiously. Clearly, our fights had made their way into her friend group.<br/>
“Hey.” I hated the way I sounded sad. God, I was just apologizing. I nudged her shoe with mine, and she looked up at me. Her eyes were lighter in the sun, prettier than they were indoors- not to say that they weren’t pretty indoors. No, they were…<br/>
“Yeah, Shirabu?”<br/>
I cleared my throat. “Can we talk? Uh, privately?”<br/>
“Oh. Sure.” She got up, dusting off her skirt. We walked over to a secluded patch of shade near a wall and I inhaled deeply, turning around as she leaned against the wall.<br/>
“I wanted to apologise.” Was she always this distracting? Shit, did I have a crush on her? The well rehearsed words I’d planned last night disappeared in my throat and I rubbed the back of my neck. “I… I didn’t mean to yell at you.”<br/>
She didn’t say anything, just folded her arms.<br/>
“It was stupid, and out of line, and I get it if you hate me now. But. I am sorry.” I blew my fringe out of my face, looking at her.<br/>
“See? That’s sincere.”<br/>
I stared at her. “Huh?”<br/>
She took two swift steps towards me, smiling now. I’d never noticed how nice her smile was.<br/>
“Thank you for apologizing… from the heart.” And then her hand was brushing my fringe out of my face and she was stepping back to a respectable distance, fiddling with the cuffs of her sleeves.<br/>
And I think I’d short circuited, because all I could do was huff out a half-hearted laugh and plaster my best non-committal expression back on my face, because she didn’t make me flustered, nope, never.<br/>
“You’re still an ass, Bubu. But… I look forward to seeing you back at practice next week.” She smirked. “Bye,” she said, a familiar lilt in her voice, and walked back over to her friends, swaying her arms, slumping down in her spot and running a hand through her hair.<br/>
The enemies to friends trope was by far my least favourite. But shit, I wanted it to happen.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Ch 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“You guys are boring,” he sighed. “Nothing interesting ever happens in this club.”<br/>“Ushijima’s pants split and you got to see his boxers. Is that not enough?” <br/>“No,” he said.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>guess who's back my dudes it me shakespeare</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>(Reader POV)</p><p>The last few days of practice passed without anything interesting happening, except Ushijima had to get a new pair of shorts because he split his old pair jumping, which proved to be a… learning experience. <br/>When Shirabu walked into the gym on his first day back, everyone tensed up. Even though he’d apologised, I tightened my grip on the clipboard in my hands. But instead of throwing a snarky comment my way like everyone was used to, he nodded to everyone and started warming up. <br/>“So, that's it?” Yamagata said, scaring the life out of me.<br/>“Yamagata! You scared me!” <br/>“Sorry. Is he seriously just going to warm up, though?” he asked, shrugging off his jacket.<br/>“Yes?”<br/>“Man!” Yamagata said, sighing. “Boring.”<br/>“You want him to insult me again?” I asked, smiling slightly.<br/>“No! Never! He could just be more interesting about coming back, instead of hanging his head.” Yamagata slung an arm around my shoulders, giving me a small squeeze. “He should never insult you.”<br/>“Aw, you’re making me blush. Now go warm up.”<br/>I sat down on one of the chairs, prepared to take notes. Washijo pulled a chair up beside me, folding his arms and settling into his usual sneer as he watched them practice spikes. I took it as a silent reminder to sit up straight instead of slouching like I was used to. <br/>At one point, after Washijo got up to go scream at Goshiki for some reason, Shirabu passed me, holding a ball. He paused ever so slightly right in front of me, and glanced at me.<br/>“Hey.”<br/>“Hi.”<br/>The tiniest of exchanges, and it had me on edge. He tilted his head. “Are… it’s… um…”<br/>“It’s good to have you back. Remember Tendou likes his tosses a little higher and further than everyone else,” I said, making the corners of his mouth tug upwards for a brief moment. <br/>“Yeah, sure.” He nodded at me, then ran off. <br/>Be still, my beating heart, I thought grumpily, scratching out a misspelled word, then glancing up to see Yamagata giving me a thumbs down. <br/>“What?”<br/>“You guys are boring,” he sighed. “Nothing interesting ever happens in this club.”<br/>“Ushijima’s pants split and you got to see his boxers. Is that not enough?” <br/>“No,” he said. <br/>After practice, we all split up, heading back to the dorms, or going to get food. I ended up walking with Taichi and Goshiki, with Shirabu trailing a few steps behind us, trying to act as if he was unbothered.<br/>“I’m hungry,” Taichi said. <br/>“Same,” I mumbled. <br/>“But you didn’t practice? You were kinda just… sitting,” Goshiki said. I shot him a look.<br/>“I was using my brain power- something a lot of you could stand to do a lot more of. Anyways, I haven’t been eating well lately.”<br/>“Why not?” Goshiki said, the jab flying straight over his head.<br/>“Ehh… not enough time? I haven’t had the effort to go and get some good food, so… ramen cups it is.” I shrugged. <br/>“Shirabu has issues with that too. But lately, he’s been good about it, I guess,” Taichi said. I looked over my shoulder, smiling.<br/>“Aww, cute. Shirabu cares about his diet.” And fucking fuck. Shut up, self. He gave me a look, and I busied myself zipping my jacket up. <br/>I bid them farewell a little while later, walking off to the girls dorms, thinking about practice. Not at all paying attention to my surroundings, and nearly crushing the little package sitting just outside my door. <br/>“Oh. Who’s is this?”  I picked up, turned it over and saw my name written in neat lettering. Someone had wrapped it well, and after sitting on my bed I struggled to open it so as not to tear the paper. <br/>Inside were a few mochis, each in a little liner, with a note under them. It read, Sorry for being a dick. Semi said you liked them. <br/>“Thanks, Shirabu,” I said, quietly, putting the box down. Minami banged loudly into the room, tossing a bag on the floor and collapsing onto her bed.<br/>“Heya,” I said idly. <br/>“Mmh.” She lay in silence for a minute or so before turning her head. “How was practice? Shirabu was back today, wasn’t he?”<br/>“Yeah, he was. It was all good.” I plucked at the box. “He sent me some apology mochi.”<br/>“Good.” She planted her face back in her pillow.<br/>“How was yours?” I asked.<br/>“Tiring. Sprained my finger.” Her voice was muffled.<br/>“Give,” I said, holding out my hand and fishing the first-aid kit out of my bag. She stuck out her hand and I busied myself with tending to it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Ch 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Cute.<br/>It was pathetic. Holy hell. All she’d done was call my eating habits cute. Not me, my fucking eating habits. My diet. But she’d given me this little smile, the collar of her jacket brushing her lower lip, her eyes glinting.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>have any of you listened to the "One of us is lying" audiobook? because the dude who reads Nate's chapters has the exact voice I read shirabu's POVs in</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>(Shirabu POV)</p><p>Aww, cute. Shirabu cares about his diet. <br/>Honestly, dieticians should get their client’s crushes to help them out. Any resentment I held towards food had disappeared and I was already planning my next lunch.<br/>Aww, cute.<br/>“Are you okay? You look constipated,” Taichi said. I didn’t move. <br/>“I’m okay.”<br/>Cute.<br/>It was pathetic. Holy hell. All she’d done was call my eating habits cute. Not me, my fucking eating habits. My diet. But she’d given me this little smile, the collar of her jacket brushing her lower lip, her eyes glinting. <br/>Taichi gave me a very weird look when I covered my face with a pillow. “Are you sure you’re good?”<br/>“Yes. No. I don’t know.”<br/>“Lemme guess.” Taichi pulled the pillow off my face, sitting on his bed and folding his arms. “Our manager got you all in a fuss because you’ve finally grown a pair and talked to her and realised, hey, she’s cute, she’s nice, she’s funny! And now you’re crushing on her and everything she does is like a shot in the face.”<br/>I sat up. “That was… suspiciously accurate.” <br/>Taichi smiled. “It happened to me when I first met her.”<br/>“You like her?”<br/>“Not anymore. I got over it. She had no clue.” He grinned. “But now YOU…”<br/>“Don’t tell anyone. No one in class, no one on the team, and- and most definitely NOT HER,” I said, snatching back the pillow. <br/>“Fine. But only if you try and talk to her more, for god's sake.”<br/>“I do talk to her!”<br/>“When?” Taichi said, silencing me.<br/>“In… in practice and class and stuff.” I was well aware of how childish I sounded. The last time I’d spoken to her during class was two days ago, when we were both at the same table in the library, and we’d exchanged notes. She’d highlighted all the important bits of information in green and her handwriting skittered every so often, but I’d barely taken any of it in, far too focused on the way she was nodding her head to a song she was listening to in her headphones, flicking through my notes. And as for practice… well, that was a whole other disaster. <br/>“You’re the worst. That’s all easy talk- there’s a big, bold topic for you to talk about, and so you talk about it- it’s too easy. You never make small talk with her, or try to talk about her.”<br/>“About her?”<br/>Taichi looked like he wanted to scream. “You’re one of the smartest people in our year, Shirabu, but oh my god, you’re an idiot. About feelings and that.”<br/>“Feelings?” I asked. The only thing I was feeling right now was confusion. “We never talk about feelings.”<br/>“I do. You just don’t care. You’re too self-absorbed.”<br/>Trust Taichi to be blunt. <br/>“So what should I talk to her about?”<br/>“Anything! Look, she and I are going to spend our free period in the library tomorrow, so why don’t you come along instead of holing up here like you always do.” <br/>I stared at him, not entirely sure if he was trying to humiliate me in front of my crush, who also happened to be one of his good friends.<br/>“Sure.”<br/>“Thank you! God, was that so hard?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Ass!” I snapped, jabbing his shoulder. “Whatever. Sit down, Bubu, you look scared.” I shifted over to make room, and he sat down beside me.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>y'all it's my birthday tomorrow so i'm posting at night have some shirabu fluff okay maybe i like him</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>(Reader POV)</p><p>The library was cool and I was sitting cross-legged on a chair, waiting for Taichi to show up. <br/>As if on cue, a hand dropped onto my shoulder and I turned to smile at Taichi.<br/>“Taichi! You’re finally here.” Then my eyes wandered past him and I saw Shirabu standing there, hands twisting together. “Oh! Hey, Shirabu.” <br/>“Hi,” he replied. Taichi slumped down beside me, pulling out his phone and a pair of headphones. <br/>“Peace,” he said, putting in his headphones. “Semi suggested to me a playlist. Talk amongst yourself, children.”<br/>“Ass!” I snapped, jabbing his shoulder. “Whatever. Sit down, Bubu, you look scared.” I shifted over to make room, and he sat down beside me. Taichi huffed, opening a book.<br/>“So… you’re in the super smart class, right?”  I asked.<br/>“Yeah, I am.” He seemed even more on edge than normal, fiddling with his pencils and shifting around. He accidentally nudged my shoulder and immediately cringed away, face set. “It’s, uh… okay, I guess.”<br/>“Imagine. I only just scraped through the entrance exam. I still have nightmares about it.” He smiled. He had a nice smile. <br/>“Yeah, I studied for ages to make it. I wouldn’t qualify for a sports scholarship, see.”<br/>“That’s dumb. You’re, like, an amazing setter.”<br/>“That's such a beautiful compliment.” He smiled again, for a fraction longer, meeting my eyes. “So meaningful.”<br/>“Shut up! I’ve never paid any attention to other setters.”<br/>“Really?”<br/>I suddenly couldn’t meet his eyes. “Well, yeah. You’re the setter I see most, so…”<br/>He didn’t say anything, just looked at me. I caved.<br/>“You’re the only setter worth paying attention to.” <br/>He gave a smug, shit-eating grin, leaning back and opening his book. “Better than Semi?”<br/>“Are you kidding me? You’re really gonna make me say it?” I couldn’t stop smiling. <br/>“I’m not gonna make you, per se... “ His eyes were this honey-brown shade that I had never noticed before. I never noticed the way his eyes crinkled around the edges when he got happy. He didn’t even have to be smiling, I noticed, for it to happen.<br/>“Yes, you’re better than Semi.”<br/>He smirked, and started looking through his book. I stared at him. <br/>“You aren’t gonna say anything? Where’s your snarky comment, Bubu?”  I leaned closer. <br/>“You already said it all.” He turned to look at me, then appeared to stop breathing as we both realised the lack of space between us. Far too little space to be strictly friendly. Our noses were almost touching. <br/>I moved back hurriedly, looking at my books. “So, uh, maths, huh? God, numbers... “ I trailed off, missing how bright red his face was, and missing how Taichi was nearly crying with silent laughter.<br/>We spent the rest of the period exchanging terse conversations, until Shirabu pulled out his phone and offered me an earbud. “Taichi’s been in his own little world, so…”<br/>“Sure.” I put the earbud in, shuffling closer so the cord wouldn’t be pulled. He tapped a few times, and a slow, soft song started playing. It nearly made me laugh- Shirabu didn’t seem the type to listen to gentle music. He didn’t seem the type to listen to music, period. But instead I leaned ever so slightly closer, letting the music pull me away and allow me to focus on the maths. <br/>At some point, Shirabu’s head bumped mine, and I looked at him. He was focused- completely. I watched him, a warm content settling over me. It was sort of weird to look at him like this.<br/>He scratched his head, his eyes flicking over to me and his eyes crinkling again. “What?”<br/>“Nothing. What song is this?” I asked, leaning over and bumping our heads again. <br/>“Oh, it's…” <br/>I guess anyone can be friends.</p>
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